critical creative & collaboration inquiry for educational engagement
TRANSCRIPT
Critical Creative & Collaborative Inquiry
for Educational Engagement
Festival of Learning
June 9th, 2016
Agenda
• Inquiry problem
• Educational context
• C3I, an overview
• Implementation
• Feedback
• Observations & Discussion
C3I for Educational Engagement
Engagement: connection, self-efficacy & agency
C3I & Educational Engagement
Complies•External rewards, fun
Holds Interest
• Enjoyable, low commitment
Valuable
• Important, useful
• Personally meaningful
Challenged
• “Caught up”• Look for
patterns, themes
Transformed
• Actively engaged• Quality reasoning• Transfer & change
Not engaged •Tasks not completed
Horticulture Apprenticeship
• Technical training in practical & business skills
• Industry-developed curriculum
Diploma of Technology
•Foundation in
horticulture science
& environmental
requirements for
optimum plant growth
• Theory & technique
for best practice &
sustainability
Bachelor of Horticulture Science
• Combines horticulture, business, mathematics, biology, chemistry & general education
• Innovation & creativeprojects that resolvecommunity, industry, & research related problems
Educational context
C3I & Educational Engagement
Shifting realities
20th Century Curriculum 21st Century Curriculum
Prepared students for the knownFocused on knowledge & skill acquisition
Traditional scientific/behaviour model, content transmission
Prepare students for the unknown Civic engagement, innovation
Instill thinking as the foundationTeach/model critical thinking
Push-based for compliance &replication
Lecture & labs Assessment of learning
Nurture curiosity & a questioning disposition
Practice & problem solving & reflection Assessment as/for learning
Knowledgehierarchy
Teacher at the topKnowledge networks
Learning community
C3I & Educational Engagement
C3I for Educational Engagement
The thinking through of a problematic situation about what to believe or how to act where the thinker makes a reasoned judgment that reflects competent use of the intellectual tools of quality thinking. TC2 https://tc2.ca/
Critical, Creative & Collaborative Inquiry
Critical challenges
Broad concept
Plant identification is a decision making process that integrates domain specific background information with critical observation & thinking strategies used in the accurate and efficient identification of unknown plants.
C3I & Educational Engagement
Plant identification as discoveryBackground
Knowledge
What knowledge would be most useful to Mr. Menzies
for identifying unknown plants in a new place?
Criteria for
Judgment
What criteria would Menzies find most useful for
differentiating among a range of plants?
Critical
Vocabulary
How would Menzies ensure that his descriptions of
unknown plants were accurate?
Thinking
Strategies
What strategies would be best for collecting, classifying,
& conveying specimens to the UK?
Habits
of Mind
What outlooks & attitudes would support this work?
How would “surgeon-botanist” effect Menzies outlook?
Reflection
In what ways does Mr. Menzies’ experience of plant
discovery compare with your own?
What tools/habits of mind would support study in
this course?
C3I & Educational Engagement
Landscape designBroadConcepts
Quality visual appearance can be assessed with appropriate criteria
BackgroundKnowledge
Relevant theory & practicewith principles of design
CriteriaQualities of aesthetic organization - order, unity, rhythm
Critical Thinking Vocabulary
Criteria Performance attributesCritique
ThinkingStrategies
Assessment rubricsAnalyze & formulate designsWrite a letter of critique to a designer
Habits of Mind
Attention to detailAccuracy Open-mindednessFair-mindedness
C3I & Educational Engagement
Critical
Challenge
What makes quality in
landscape design?
Place Mats
Collaborate on criteria used to
assess quality visual
appearance
Create
Rubric
Describe 3 distinct
performance attributes
for each criteria
Use a
Rubric
Collaborate & use a rubric
to assess visual resources
Peer assessment with feedback
Write a
Letter of
Critique
Use a rubric to assess designs
Letter of critique to designer
Present the letter & evidence
Peer assessment & feedback
Sustainable horticultureBroadConcepts
Quality decisions can be assessed w/ appropriate criteria
BackgroundKnowledge
World view, ethics & moralityEthnocentrism, anthropocentrism, eco-centrism
Criteria Claims, assumptions, bias
Critical Thinking Vocabulary
Arguments, evidencePro & con Justification
ThinkingStrategies
Inquiry - Argument table, dialogue, reasoned judgement, debate
Habits of Mind
Multiple perspectives Open-mindednessFair-mindedness
C3I & Educational Engagement
Critical
Challenge
Should pesticides (GMO’s) be
used for food security?
Argument Table
Examine multiple perspectives
Evaluate pros & cons for main arguments
Write a dialogue
Argue issues from multiple perspectives
Reach a reasoned judgment
Debate an issue
Carry out an inquiry
Present cases for & against
Weigh the arguments
Engagement: indicator for quality of learning
environment & predictor for learning outcomes
C3I & Educational Engagement
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Inquiry increasedmy interest.
Self-directedinvestigationenhanced my
interest.
I felt motivated toinvestigate related
questions.
I used resourcesbeyond those
provided.
Inquiry helped meunderstand
differentperspectives.
Evaluatingarguments helped
me determinewhat to believe.
Inquiry helped meunderstand course
concepts.
Collaborationhelped me with
this inquiry.
I could applyinquiry beyond
this class.
Inquiry-based Learning (19 respondents/25 students)
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
Comments
“…Exploring the “why” for the existence of the class at all”
“…Holistic learning format”
“…Current problems”
“…Creative thinking and problem solving”
“…Good feedback on assignments”
C3I for Educational Engagement
“…Collaborative activities were enriching”
“…How diverse & complex issues become when combining multiple perspectives”
“…I usually prefer to work on projects alone, but working together in a group really helped fill in the blanks that I may have been missing”
Comments
“…I understand now that different perspectives are not necessarily incorrect. I found it helped me to understand the subject better. It also forced me to keep an open mind”
“…I became very aware of the need to check all sources when investigating sides of such a debate, not being able to easily determine what is right was very challenging, but I learned how important it is to view all sides as evenly as possible”
C3I for Educational Engagement
“… I did however, reformulate my own opinions … It was, as well, interesting to see the same phenomenon occur in other members of the class”
“…Assign special projects to solve problems identified”
“…Address specific & serious horticultural issues head on”
“…The course changed how I think, in many ways”
C3I Strengths Challenges
Create a community of thinkers
Active collaboration in decision making, debating pros & cons, justifying conclusions, & considering multiple views
Time & transfer of learning across various courses & contexts without a collaborative teaching community
Promotecritical challenges
Engaged in solving relevant, curriculum embedded problems based on plausible options & clear criteria
Critical thinking is often addressed only after the subject matter has been taught w/ little time for development
Teach the tools
Practice for improvement & scaffolding tools in curriculum fosters deeper understanding, & nurtures self-efficacy & agency
Critical thinking may be considered one type among many skills or forms of thinking, and of a higher order…
Assess for thinking
Assessment based on clear outcomes w/ self/peer/instructor feedback on multiple items
Emphasis on assessment of learning compared with active assessment “as” & “for” learning
C3I & Educational Engagement
Observations
• C3I has powerful implications for promoting student connection, self-efficacy & agency with a strong likelihood for engagement.
• The strengths of C3I outweigh the challenges of implementation within a traditional context.
• A C3I approach has demonstrated that critical thinking nurtures learner engagement & promotes deeper understanding of curriculum for transfer of learning.
Thank you! For information, contact
C3I & Educational Engagement